BATON ROUGE -- The Arizona State University softball team had seen more than its fair share of heartbreak this season. During the regular season, the Sun Devils suffered 11 losses in the seventh inning or later of games. Thus, it was only fitting that with all the chips on the table in the postseason, ASU would find a way to reverse that fate.
The Devils entered Elimination Saturday of the Baton Rouge Regional needing two victories to advance to the regional final tomorrow and – knowing a loss in either game would mean the end of the season - went ahead and did just that. And - as only the karma deities would have it – both victories came in walk-off fashion as ASU advanced to a Regional Final for the 11th consecutive season.
"This is what we came here for whether we had won the first game or lost the first game. We want to go all of the way. We know it's not an easy road," co-interim head coach Letty Olivarez said. "We are going to have to come out and play our best. We are going to have to do the little things right, but we are excited. We are excited for those games."
The Sun Devils opened the day with a dramatic walk-off 1-0 victory over LIU Brooklyn to stave off elimination a first time in a game where Kelsey Kessler faced the minimum 21 batters in a one-hit shutout, setting the table for Taylor Becerra's walk-off RBI single.
ASU upped the ante in game two, essentially playing two games for the price of one in a 14-inning thriller against second-seeded McNeese State, where Jenn Soria tied the contest in the eighth with a solo home run before drawing a literal walk-off with an RBI base on balls in the bottom of the 14th for a 3-2 victory to help the Sun Devils live to see another day.
RBI WALK! RBI WALK!!! @jennsoria5 does it again!! DEVILS WIN!!! DEVILS WIN!!! 5UPER 5ORIA!!! #JSU #JSU
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) May 22, 2016
"I was just going in there with the same rhythm I usually take in each at bat and was just trying to work the count a little bit and make (Allred) throw strikes," Soria said of her game-winning plate appearance.
With the victory, the Sun Devils get a shot against the regional host, #10 LSU, tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m. PT. ASU will have to defeat the Tigers twice to advance to the Super Regionals and will look to continue turning its fate against the same team that won two Sunday games last season in Baton Rouge to eliminate ASU from the postseason.
For full recaps of each of Saturday's games, see below.
ASU 3, McNeese State 2 (14)
In the longest Sun Devil game since a 16-inning affair against Stanford in 2002, it was the Sun Devils who got the best of the Southland Champions as Jennifer Soria walked with the bases loaded to score Katee Aguirre for a 3-2 victory over McNeese St. in the 14th inning and a spot in tomorrow's Regional Final against LSU.
It was essentially a tale of two games for Soria in the 14-inning affair. The senior all-everything standout was 0-for-3 in the first seven innings of the contest before going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a home run and a walk in the second half of the game. In her final plate appearance of the day, Soria worked the count full with two outs and the bases juiced. She coolly took ball four up above her waist to draw the literal walk-off victory.
The Sun Devils never would have been in a position to win it in the 14th if not for Soria's heroics in the eighth inning either. The Cowgirls took a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth winning on a two-out RBI single from Shanice Hagler that dropped just out of reach of a sliding Soria in center field.
Needing a run to stay alive, it was only fitting that Soria would lead off the bottom half of the inning. And lead off she did, knocking a solo home run over the wall in left field – her first hit of the postseason – to make things Even Stevens at 2-2.
The man that caught @jennsoria5's home run has her sign it after the game. What a moment. pic.twitter.com/d6y0jMnAKA
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) May 22, 2016
That MSU hit in the top of the eighth would inevitably lead to the end of a heroic night for Kelsey Kessler. After nearly pitching a no-hitter against LIU Brooklyn earlier in the day (and pitching the complete game against McNeese in the loss yesterday), the junior hurler came back out and dished a season-high 132 pitches (199 total on the day) in 7.2 innings. Kessler struck out eight and scattered 10 hits while allowing just two runs (only one in regulation), stranding a runner in scoring position in five of the seven regulation innings.
And Kessler's departure from the game set up the Dale Ryndak Show. The sophomore RHP was lights out in 6.1 innings of relief and the first major postseason action of her career.
Ryndak entered the game with two runners on base and two outs in the bottom of the eighth and promptly struck out Marisa Taunton on three pitches to set the tone for her effort.
From there, Ryndak allowed just a single hit while striking out four Cowgirls and allowing just two walks (of the intentionally unintentional variety). The sophomore forced 12 groundouts on 80 total pitches, giving her defense a chance to strut its stuff as she essentially pitched a complete game shutout.
"I had to get in the zone really quickly. McNeese State is a really good hitting team, especially with (third baseman Erika Piancastelli)," Ryndak said after the game. "I just want to throw my own game. I couldn't think of throwing them any better pitches than what Kelsey (Kessler) was throwing. Kelsey was throwing awesome pitches. I had to just keep doing what she was doing."
Sun Devil catcher Katee Aguirre not only scored the game-winning run (one of her team-leading two runs on the day), but she also threw out two runners attempting to steal in the contest and the Sun Devil defense as a whole played 21 innings on the day without giving up a single error.
ASU got on the board first in the bottom of the second as Taylor Becerra drew an RBI walk to score Aguirre and give the Devils a 1-0 lead early. McNeese quickly responded in the top of the third, scoring on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to even things at 1-1. That would be the extent of the regulation scoring as Kessler would go on to strand eight batters over the course of five innings to set up the dramatic extra-inning showdown.
ASU 1, LIU Brooklyn 0
Needing a win to stave off elimination, Kelsey Kessler was nearly flawless as she tossed a one-hit shutout in which she faced the minimum 21 batters in a seven-inning game while Taylor Becerra knocked just her second RBI since March 18 – a walk-off single to give the Sun Devils a 1-0 victory.
Kessler pitched a perfect game through six innings before giving up a leadoff single in the top of the seventh for the first Blackbird baserunner of the day. But Sun Devil catcher Sashel Palacios immediately wiped that off the board as she bare-handed a popped-up bunt attempt from Ariana Lopez and immediately through the ball to first for the force out after the runner failed to tag up after the popup.
Kessler got the final out of the inning, setting the table for the dramatic walk-off victory in the bottom half of the inning, finishing the game with just 67 pitches and three strikeouts with no walks.
Chelsea Gonzales reached on a leadoff single and moved to second on Margaret Stahm's successful sac bunt. Bryney Steele entered to pinch run for Gonzales and took third on Nichole Chilson's groundout, placing the winning run 60 feet away with two outs.
Becerra looked as if she would be lifted for a pinch hitter, but co-interim head coach Robert Wagner called an audible and left her in the lineup to hit. And she delivered with the biggest hit of her freshman campaign, scorching a single to center field for the game-winning hit and the first walk-off hit of her career.
RHP Erynn Sobiesky held ASU's offense in check for much of the day. The Blackbird pitcher struck out three and walked three and gave up just three hits in the contest prior to the two decisive hits in the final inning.